A Brewhouse in the Dining Room
The fifteen-barrel copper system sits behind glass in the center of the house — not for show, though it does show well. The architects wanted it in the basement. Our head brewer wanted natural light and an audience. The brewer won, which anyone who has met her could have predicted.
Brew days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting around 7am. By the time the lunch crowd arrives, the mash smells like warm bread and the kettle is rolling. Ask for a seat at the brewhouse rail if you want the full effect — it's the same price as every other table.
The Lagering Cellar
Under the dining room, eight horizontal tanks hold beer at 34 degrees for four to ten weeks depending on the style. This is the part nobody photographs and the reason the beer tastes the way it does. Lagering isn't a technique so much as a refusal to be rushed.
Tours
Saturdays at 1pm and 3pm, about 45 minutes, ending with a flight at the bar. $15, book at the host stand or by phone. Closed-toe shoes required — the cellar floor is wet and has been since 2012. Private tours for groups of 10+ by arrangement.
About the Name
Christian Moerlein landed in Cincinnati from Truppach, Bavaria in 1841 with a blacksmith's trade and not much else. By the 1890s his brewery covered several city blocks in Over-the-Rhine and shipped beer as far as South America. Prohibition wiped it out in 1919, along with most of this city's brewing trade.
The name was revived in bottles in 1981 and came to the riverfront when this building opened in 2012. We didn't found the legacy; we're the ones keeping the lights on in it. That distinction matters to us, and we suspect it would have mattered to him.